He’s not just talking about on the ice this weekend. The freshmen are apparently in charge of bringing movies along to watch on the bus. That’s a lot of responsibility for the young guys.

As suspected, UND forward Michael Parks will not make the trip to Houghton, meaning he has about a month to recover from his leg injury. Parks hasn’t played a full period yet this season.

Coach Dave Hakstol also said there’s an “excellent” chance that Andrew Panzarella will be back in the lineup last weekend after a strong performance Saturday night. Panzarella had two hits on his opening shift and continued with his physical play throughout the game.

Hakstol said Panzarella earned a spot in the lineup because he practiced very well the two weeks prior. It’s up to Panzarella to stay in the lineup, Hakstol said.

Michigan Tech also has been banged up. Defenseman Daniel Sova will not play this weekend. Sophomore forward Tanner Kero is questionable after having an appendectomy last weekend. Other question marks include Chad Pietila and David Johnstone. For a full rundown of Tech’s injury situation, read this story.

This week, I chatted with a couple of NHL media people who are giving college hockey an extra spotlight due to the lockout. Look for that story in Thursday’s paper. I’ll have a Corban Knight feature for Friday’s paper.

14 thoughts on “Weekly Wednesday update”

Dear Mr Schlossman,
I’m a newbie college hockey fan, and have only been following it for a couple years. I’m originally from NoDak but have retired and currently live in North Carolina. So my main source of UND hockey news is from you. I read your columns everyday, and your weekend recaps. I appreciate all the news you report and learn more every day. Doubt that I’ll ever be able to see a UND game, but keep up with the live feeds when you’re at the games.
Thanks for all you do, and keep up the good work!
Sincerly
‘Marty’ Martin

Marty, I too live in NC and follow the Sioux via this blog and a few others. If you have Time Warner Cable and are willing to pay a few extra bucks a month, you can get several extra sports channels, a couple of which are Fox College Sports. I watch most of the Sioux home games in the comfort of my living room, so if you want to keep up with them, that is a good way to do so.

As of the end of this weekend’s series, Parks will have missed exactly half of the regular season (minus one period). At what point do the coaches think about shutting him down for the year, letting him get back to full strength, and coming back next season?

Parks is awfully talented in my opinion to be sitting him on the bench if he can come back this year. 6th Leading scorer (5th in goals) as a freshman and can be a difference maker. Don’t agree with shutting him down if he is healthy at the break. Tough to know the extent of the injury, but I can’t assume they are thinking if he is close to healthy about shutting him down.

Just read your article on the extra attention college hockey is getting. It got me thinking about the NCHC and CBS Sports deal. Every article I read states that is it a “multi-year” deal, but can’t find exactly how many seasons the deal is in place. Do you know for sure?

Any idea if Jim will be sitting out for almost costing the team a game on Saturday night? I think he’s a great player to watch and hope to see him in the lineup again.. Can’t imagine what he was going through in the locker room after the major but i’m sure he’s learned a valuable lesson..

“Jim” ‘s penalty wasnt that bad. He’s a hard working kid and does a good job on the 4th line. It was a major penalty in the eyes of the refs. I didnt think it was that bad. MacWilliam took a check from behind later in the game that didnt get called.

You must be blind, that was a textbook check from behind. DU player went to get the puck near the boards, head looking down at the puck, back bent. Jim saw the numbers, he should have attempted to steal the puck with a poke check but instead he cross checked the player from behind into the boards. Not a safe play. I knew as soon as the player went into the boards and the whistle blew it was gonna be a 5 minute major.